Posted on 09/27/2020 6:08:17 PM PDT by marshmallow
CNA Staff, Sep 26, 2020 / 06:01 am MT (CNA).- Catholic leaders in Russia are expressing concern about a bill that would restrict the ability of Russian religious ministers who receive religious education abroad to teach or preach in Russia.
The bill calls for “recertification” in Russian educational institutions of pastors and “personnel of religious organisations” who have received religious education abroad, ostensibly with the goal of preventing the spread of “extremist ideology” from abroad, the Barnabas Fund reports.
The bill was proposed in the Federal Assembly and approved for first reading Sept. 22, but the reading has been postponed.
Father Kirill Gorbunov, vicar general for the Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow, told RIA Novosti, according to Asia News, that priests ministering from Russia who were educated elsewhere should be informed about the history, culture and religious traditions of Russia, and should not disseminate extremist ideas in their preaching.
However, he said it is the Church’s responsibility to regulate this, not the state’s— and the Catholic Church has no tolerance for extremist ideas, he said.
The attempt by the Kremlin to regulate what is being taught to religious leaders "does not provide for effective solutions, rather it would lead to inextricable contradictions.”
In addition to Catholics, Russsian Buddhists typically study abroad as part of their formation, Asia News reported.
The bill comes amid several years of deteriorating religious freedom in Russia.
In 2016, Russian president Vladimir Putin approved a new set of laws that would restrict evangelization and missionary activity to officially registered Church buildings and worship areas.
Anti-terrorism measures, catalyzed by the 2002 Federal Law on Countering Extremist Activity, have given Russian police powers to disrupt private worship services, to arrest and detain individuals handing out unapproved religious materials, and to outlay any publish preaching........
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
I can totally understand and sympathize with that.
You want to maintain your culture don’t let infiltrators come in.
You can see how well multiculturalism has worked for us and Europe.
Smart move. Especially those “educated” in the USA and western Europe.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
“Smart move. Especially those “educated” in the USA and western Europe.”
I wasn’t thinking that way, but very true. The last thing the Russians need is a bunch of ‘Liberation Theology’ being preached in their country. I was thinking more in terms of radicals from the Middle East, and places like that.
And I so wanted for Joel Osteen to go over and evangelize the whole bunch over there. My dreams are shattered. Shattered I tell ya’.
Paid for by the CIA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.